Wacky Technology Wednesday: Green Architecture

One things we endorse at the Global Innovation Commons is the use of education to better the world around us. Students around the world have begun to design sustainable architecture using recycled materials. By pressing the boundaries of energy efficiency the students beautifully combine form with function to create environments which are truly green. The following were dubbed the top nine designs by "inhabitat", a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

The Aarhus School of Architecture
Eleven students at the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark created this pavilion out of approx. 420 humble shipping pallets.

University of Applied Sciences in Detmold
Students from the University of Applied Sciences in Detmold in Germany developed and built a pavilion out of 2,000 beer crates. They first used computer graphics to create the positioning of the structure and then bolted the entire piece together.

Parade by the London University of Arts
This parade installation was created by a public arts group based at the University of the Arts, London. They used 4,200 milk crates to develop a new architectural space right in the middle of campus.

University of Colorado, Denver
Students build two projects to enhance a local farm's operations while making a definitive statement about sustainable design. The first building will host classes and a farmers market and will offer a place to relax during a hard day's labor.

The second is a goat milking shed with built-in seating making it a place for human habitation. It rises from a core of gabion boxes filled with reused concrete tailings.

The Oporto School of Architecture
This temporary structure was the winning design for the school's annual bar design competition in Portugal. The tubes are made from easy-to-recycle, low-toxic plastic No. 5 and can be reused for domestic jobs until the end of their lifecycle.

Auburn University
A small group of students at Auburn University have created a functional small building out of waxed corrugated cardboard bails. The small building is being used for student housing as they have a tremendous r-value and thermal mass.

Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
A building team designed The FabLab House, is a solar panel-covered three-legged house.

Virginia Tech University
"Lumenhaus" won the 2010 Solar Decathlon and pushes the limited of sustainable design which adapts precisely to the owner's needs and the current weather conditions.

Learn more from inhabitat.